August is something of a transition month for me. When I lived in Upstate New York as a kid, it had this impending feeling of autumn, but with the heat and free spirit of summer. Corn of the cob and macaroni salads filled picnic tables, kids splashed about in Lake Ontario, and trees were just
In 1776, on the fourth of July, the Continental Congress unanimously adopted the Declaration of Independence, kicking off the great American experiment in governing ourselves. It was the first step in throwing off the perceived chains of Britain’s hold on us, the beginning of our attempt at a government formed by the people. July fourth
Today is the first day of over a week off of the day job. This means I get to write every day until the words stop flowing. This pleases me. Tomorrow will be time spent with my immediate family, who are the only people I have spent any time with at all during this pandemic.
We, here in the US, are barreling into the holiday season with a pandemic and a recession riding shotgun. Or maybe they’re driving and we’re just along for the ride. Either way, it feels like death is hovering over what is meant to be a festive time with family and friends. I’m not the biggest
I’m not big on New Years as a holiday, or a time for big changes.  As a Pagan I celebrate the turning of the wheel toward beginnings at Samhain (Halloween), so it seems a bit redundant to do so again on the first of January. I do get something of a new beginning this year,
So, November was an interesting month. I chose to focus on The Blood Witch for NaNoWrMo, dedicated my morning makeup routine time to writing, and spent at least four hours every Saturday and Sunday writing. On November 29th, I hit 50K and breathed a sigh of relief. I’m really fond of a lot of what
Yesterday was a momentous day in the land of The Blood Witch as I got across the 40K words mark. I had hoped to be further along, but well…life. Being a writer who has to hold down a day job and who lives alone, thus is responsible for all of the housework and grocery shopping
I live in a fairly affluent little city in the San Francisco Bay Area’s east bay. It’s the kind of place where we have stand alone Williams Sonoma, Nordstrom and Neiman Marcus stores, a boutique-y place that sells $60 pajama pants and $159 sweaters, more restaurants than you could sample in a month, and a
We’re less than a week out from Christmas, which hardly seems possible. I think I maybe finally found the knack of not going overboard on spending for my family this year. I’m a gifter. I like to give gifts. For a lot of people, this time of year can be difficult. The days are short.
Winter in San Francisco generally means temperatures in the mid 40s to mid 50s and fog. Sometimes really thick fog. That does seem to be the case this year. Even though I live a good 45 minute BART ride outside of the city, my little city can get pretty socked in too. Fog means dangerous
Natalie J Case 